Technical Scrap yard car, need it like a extra hole in my head

Somebody has scrapped a 1958 Oldsmobile 4 door. From the road the car looks like you can get in it and drive it away. The yard has it parked out front with their collection of farm tractors hay rakes and a Willys Jeep. It looks like some rust is in the rockers. My 14 year old son is going nuts over it.

Anything special about a 58 Olds? 371 any count?...worth fooling with? How bad are these as far as rust or just parts?
I told my son it's there for a reason. I'm going to go and take a look at today and we'll post some pics.

I think we tend to have a soft spot for scrapped cars...This yard owner does too that's why he puts out on display and he does sale but.....not at the bargain price you would think.

 

It could be a decent car, maybe he just got a call to haul it off.

 

The old adage of "one mans junk is another man's treasure"ring a bell?

Whoever sent it to the scraper wanted the cash more than the car,the scraper not being a fool sees value in old cars and that's why it is on the front row and not crushed,the yard owner knows that someone will drive by and see it and it WILL find a new owner. HRP

 

as a minimum, pull the entire drivetrain, engine, transmission and rearend,
including everything that bolts to the engine, take the dash and steering wheel

or buy the whole car and use it as a parts vehicle for the two door you are now looking for

 

"Anything special about a 58 Olds?"

Yup, your 14 year old likes it.
If its doable, it'd be a great chance for father/son project.

 

The thing is we have projects O plenty.
50F1,47 Cj and 64 F100 thats heading for the shop.

 

You sure your son isnt just going crazy at the thought of being able to at least think about the notion of getting his "own" old car? at 14 I would have been, but my top pick wouldnt have been a 58 olds, It may have been closer to my last pick, then and now, but If he is certain thats "the" car,
I would see what I could do.
Any car becomes more interesting to me if the owner is passionate about it and I admire anyone who finds beauty in something out of the norm, like a 4 door 58 olds.
Anything can be made cool if the owner has the rite touch.

 

Maybe he sees a car with a back seat in his future.

 

I would buy it simply because my 14 year old Son was actually interested in old cars instead of having his nose stuck in some video game ! Lots of kids today don't even want to get their drivers licenses, so for him to be interested in cars is a great thing.

Buy it , get him his own tool set, and let him start skinning his knuckles ! (and yes, a 58 Olds is COOL, even a 4 door.)

Don

 

When it comes to dragging stuff home, never ask why. Ask ''why not''.

 

One of the most sought after Gasser rear ends. Depending on ratio and if it's "anti-slip" the rear end is likely worth more than the guy got for the entire car.

 

I just sold a 57 chevy 4 door For $200 It was a bare hull. the guy that bought it needed the frame. Now if that 57 had of been a 2 door it would have sold much higher. Remember this that olds is a 4 door. No matter how passonite your son might be . It will always be a 4 door. No matter how much you spend on it or how nice you fix it up. It will still have too many doors to have any resale value. and then its a oldsmobile =hard to find parts & when found they are pricy. And that olds will be difficult to work on.Take the money you would spend on the Olds and if necessary add a couple of thousand and buy a popular model of 2 dr chevy -ford or Chrysler product. Better yet get him a Pk truck. the 60 thru 72 chevys are plentiful and parts are available at reasonable prices. I bought my youngest son a 72 chev LB Pk for $350. It was knocking badly. I showed him how to slide back the transmission and change the broke cracked flywheel flexplate. He turned all the bolts and did it all I coached. 12 years later he is still driving that truck.

 

Im a poster boy example of Why Not! Because it can quickly get out of hand. You start dragging them in and pretty soon you have a few hundred. You become a hoarder. You get a denialist unreasonable mental condition to where you like them more than whatever money any sane person would be willing to pay. Then you get old and eventually you die and your Heirs will liquidate your unreasonable hoard and the bulk of it will become the property of the scrap man. Im determined to send my hoard to the scrap man before I kick the bucket.

 

Even in a four-door the kid'll get to sit behind this amazing dash and steering wheel!

 

Some good advice there, when I seem to acquire a desire for some hunk of iron all I have to do is ask my car friends,"would you buy this from me ?"If they say no I****ume no-one would buy it and that means a money pit setting in front of the garage.A few years ago I had a nice ,clean running 57 Buick 4 dr. hardtop. I couldn't hardly give it away.Best of luck.

 

Good points made here. Im generally more on the side of, its old and cool, if you have the tools and skills, toss the dice, live life, make some memories and have fun. It is obvious your kid has caught the bug (I wonder where from?).

That being said, Im not a fan of the 58 olds in any configuration. I would set a small budget and start hunting craigslist for something else.

Personally I have no issue with 4 doors. I dont really think the younger generation does either. But it IS still worth less because of it, so dont expect to flip it and make any money with it. What your son will learn with it however are skills for future cars, which is great.

Im 29 and just starting to learn old school cars with my 4 door 50 cadillac. I love the car but when it comes to parts I wish it was a chevy.

 

I had no problem selling the 54 Chevy 4 door I had. Granted it was very nice but it still sold for close to 5K. Seems you might be able to buy this one cheap enough to part it out and make money if nothing else. Better than the crusher.

 

A 4 door hardtop can make a nice cruiser. I don't think there is any car that has more chrome & stainless on it than a 58 Olds. Gotta be a least worth a closer look.

 

^^^^ Jeff nailed it right here.

A great chance to teach the kid to be a good mechanic and not just a parts replacer.

 

Unless you need it for parts to fix a 2 door pass on that car. chances are it don't have a****le? if the auto trans is bad can you rebuild it yourself. can you even find the parts. If its not running & driving the chances are you son will quickly lose interest. How much will it cost to insure that car for your son to drive it? Get him a PK truck. Then if he tires of it you can use it or quickly sell it.

 

At least in WV and Ohio and many other places you can't sell a car to a scrap yard or crusher without a****le. If you don't have a****le you have to cut it up.

 

I am seeing a problem with the advice given on the thread and I hope that no one is going to take this personally. Not all vehicles should be viewed as an investment, some old cars are just old cars and their only value is measured in fun and not in $$$$ signs. Sometimes you just have to ask yourself, am I going to have fun with this and if so can I stand any more fun than I am already having.

 

right on*******.

 

My advice is from over 5 decades of experience. Ive owned bought & sold over a 1,000 vehicles. I raised three sons. And we had plenty of fun with old cars. My oldest still has his 70 chevelle HTP that he got when he was twelve. And its worth much more today 28 years later. If it wasn't a runner when he got his drivers license he would have lost interest. My middle son had 64 fairlane htps. firebirds & Camaros. My youngest collects 67 thru 72 chev & GMC trucks. all of which parts are available and are very easily sold if need be. You can have just as much fun with something that will increase in value.

 

yep unless young people have changed a whole lot since I was a young person ( age wise) back seats are a pretty important aspect of a car.

I had a lot of cars when I was in high school most of them were pretty fast or at least I thought that they were. I had one car that was a chick magnet, a '58 Buick Roadmaster. It was ugly as*****, needed paint worse then an old barn, but it had a nice interior, a cool stereo (4 track and reverb) and a big****ed back seat.

 

My my buddy, Tom says a 58 Olds is the only car they put the chrome on with a trowel!

 

Rocky,
The olds had a lot of chrome but the car that made the Guinness Book of World Records for the most chrome on a dash board ( for an American production car) was the '58 Buick Roadmaster.

For comfort and style a late '50s land yacht has just got it in spades.

 

All these four-door naysayers...waah! If the car is anytning at all and you can get it for a price you are comfortable with, get it! A '58 Olds is chrome city, as you know. Nothing is more impressive than any late '50s chromemobile, whether it has two or four doors. It's cool. Get it.

 

The 58 Buick was loaded with chrome also. Especially the Limited

 

Buy it for your kid and have him cut the back end off to make a killer shop couch.